Warning: The post is picture heavy as I wanted to show the packaging of the items too.

I have been eyeing Sephora since I came to know about their Black Friday deals where they sell items for $10! This year was no different and thus I had to place an order. You can find the full list of deals here. I decided to buy makeup stuff and I read reviews of all the items before deciding on the items to buy. I have heard about things selling out super fast thus I prepared myself an hour earlier. I knew exactly what I wanted and I kept my cart ready with the “promotional”/free gifts that I wanted to prevent myself from wasting time on choosing samples and stuff. At 8:30 am (UAE time), I noticed that the deals were showing up on the gift section but I couldn’t add them to my cart. Thus, I decided to add them to my “loves” list. After that, I started refreshing my loves page like a crazy maniac and 10 minutes before 9, I was able to add 2 of the 6 deals that I wanted. A couple of minutes later, I was able to add all the ones that I wanted. I also saw that the Philosophy Purity Cleanser was still available and I have no idea why I added it to my cart. I immediately went to the checkout and added all my card info. Unfortunately, there was an issue and it wasn’t accepting my card. After 4 tries, I decided to use my Dad’s card and it went through! And all my items were still in my cart during the whole time! So I bought 7 Black Friday deals for $10 each. Shipping to the US address was free since my total was over $50 but they charged me an additional $4.9 for tax. So I placed my order on the 28th of November and they shipped it out on the 30th of November. It reached my MyBox US address on the 2nd of December. So yes, 3 days shipping is true 😀 Usually it takes MyBox only 1 day to show it in my online account but this time, it didn’t. Thus, I emailed MyBox asking enquiring about the shipment and the wonderful lady said she will get to it. Next day, when I logged in, it showed in my account! So here is the summary from MyBox US to my UAE address:

09/12/2014

Delivered to Customer

09/12/2014

Shipment out for Delivery

09/12/2014

Shipment Arrived to Destination Facility

08/12/2014

Held in Customs

07/12/2014

In Transit

06/12/2014

Shipment Forwarded to Dubai

05/12/2014

Under Preparation

04/12/2014

Order Received

This time, I got charged AED 80 for the shipment as my package was apparently 1.12 kg 😦 So in total I paid AED 363 for my order (AED 283 to Sephora including the tax and currency conversion charges and AED 80 to MyBox). I also got $5.6 as cashback as I went through Ebates to make my purchase. They were having 8% cash back on Black Friday and highly recommend them. If you are spending money, might as well get some cash back and bring down your total purchase amount. Since I am not a US resident, they pay me back via PayPal every 3 months. I will probably make another post detailing my entire experience with them. Before we start, here are some unboxing pictures:

Everything came in pristine condition in a brown Sephora box with “Fragile” written all over! They added some paper on top and bubble wrap sheet (?) at the bottom of the box.

They also had another Too Faced set that included their original shadow insurance and Better than sex mascara because I have more than enough mascaras. In addition, I wanted to try out the Champaign one since I heard that it’s pretty good to be used on it’s own.

6) Philosophy Limited Edition Purity Made Simple (12 oz)

This came in a separate bag in a box as it’s liquid and thus prone to spillage.

7) Stila Glisten & Shine Set

This exact set was going for $15 every where but Sephora was selling it for $10!

I used “SEASONSET” in the promotional code to receive this bag filled with 8 deluxe samples. They had three different goodie bags but I chose this one called “Flawless Refresh” as it had a sample of Prada Candy perfume and Clinique’s Almost lipstick in shade Black Honey. Unfortunately, my sister took the perfume sample and I couldn’t use it even once 😦

I also chose these three samples at checkout. I prefer perfume samples as you usually get more uses out of it and they are easier to carry in your clutch.

Summary: They shipped out my package on time and included everything I ordered. They packaged it with tissue paper and bubble wrap. I got everything in perfect condition. Based on my first experience at Sephora.com, I will definitely be ordering more goods. My only regret is not picking up those NEST rollerballs because I keep reading raving reviews on the trio. Perhaps I will pick it up next year if they offer it. .

UPDATE: I contacted Sephora regarding the size discrepancy for the Tarte and the Smashbox set and they refunded me $21.9. That is $10 for each deal and $1.9 for Tax 😀

Rating: 10/10

Recommendation: Look out for their promos under Weekly Specials to score free deluxe size items.

DISCLAIMER: This is not a sponsored review. I purchase the mentioned product/s with my own money and the opinion stated here are that of my own.